Unidirectional driving device



Dec. 10, 1929. s. CONSTANTINESCO UNIDIRECTIONAL DRIVING DEVICE Filed July 23, 1924 9 Sheets-Sheet l I 1a 0- e I1: :01 G laz'izesca 19297 G. CONSTANTINESCO ,738,692

UNIDIRECTIONAL DRIVING DEVICE Filed July 23. 1924 9 Sheets-Sheet 2 Cbzzsiaatnesco G. CONSTANTINESCO UNIDIREC'I'IONAL DRIVING DEVICE Dec. 10, 1929.

Filed July 23/ 1924 9 Sheets-Sheet 3 E Q .E a Q Dec. 10, 1929. G. CONSTANTINESCO UIIIIDIRECTIONAL DRIVING DEVICE 9 Sheets-Shee t 4 Filed July 25, 1924 lue 2 07 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 G. CONSTANTINESCO UNIDIRECTIONAL DRIVING DEVICE Filed July 25, 1924 Dec. 10, 1929 Dec. 10,1929. 6. CONSTANTINESCO 1,738,692

UNIDIRECTIONAL DRIVING DEVICE Filed July 23, 1924 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 iffy 1929- G. CONSTANTINESCO 1,733,692

UNIDIRECTIONAL DRIVING DEVICE File d Julgv 23, 1924 9 Sheets-Sheet '7 17201? 77/72) G .6'0726 fan/256716800 1929. .s. CONSTANTINESCO 1,738,692

UNIDIRECTIONAL DRIVING DEVICE Filed July 23, 1924 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 Dec. 10, 29. e. CONSTANTINESCO 2 UNIDIRECTIONAL DRIVING DEVICE- Filed July 23. 1924 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 I Zzere n {01' I 0 G. (ha 5 222 rzzc'l ce 8w Patented Dec. 16, 1929 UNIDlIRECTIONAL DRIVING DEVICE Application filed July 23, 1924 Seria 1.l\To.'?27,774, and in Great Britain August 22, 192 3 I 'lhe present invention relates to unidirectional driving devices of the-type in which a gripping member is provided between an oscillator and a rotor, the drive being trans- 5 mitted by friction between the gripper and the rotor. 1

In such apparatus as commonly employed, locking readily occurs during the driving stroke of the oscillator but considerable force may be required to disengage the gripper on the return stroke, and such apparatus, unless constructed on correct principles, is entirely unsuitable if the oscillator moves at a com-- paratively high frequency, as insuch cases the release on the return stroke will either not take place, or will take place too late.

I have found that it is necessary that rela tive movement provided by elastic means should be possible duringthe driving stroke '20 between the oscillator and the rotor. which movement may be obtained by the elastic give of balls, rollers or ot er elastic bodies, situated between the oscillator and the gripper, and also betw en the oscillator and rotor, the oscillator and gripper having eccentric surfaces or their equivalent. Such relative movement may be quite considerable under heavy load. It may amount to as much as d5? of angle or more, in special cases, depending on the value of the eccentricity in proportion to the diameter of the circle of the gripper; On the other hand, if the load is small,such movement will be small too.

According to one feature of the present ruvention, thelapparatus is so constructed that the friction between the gripper and the rotor is considerably greater than the friction between the oscillator and the gripper, and is also so constructed that at the commencment of the driving stroke of the oscillator, movement through a substantial. angle is possible between the oscillator and the gripper, owing to the elastic give of balls, rollers or other elastic bodies. At the end of the driving stroke, the balls, rollers or other elastic bodies regain their original forms, and so return the oscillator and gripper to their or ginal positions relatively to one another, thereby disengaging the gripper.

. It may be observed that the amount of relarotate and also to circulate around their tracks desired, or to hold'the tive movement under a given load depends I upon the degree of eccentricity and elasticity of the balls or other elastic bodies. Under a varying load, it depends upon this load, being I greater or less according asthe load is greater or less. It is therefore possible so to design l the parts thatjwhen the reaction of the rotor reaches a given maximum, no movement is imparted to the rotor by the gripper.

Preferably the-balls or rollers are free to with only a pure rolling motion. The ball .or roller bearings may be provided with floating rings which may be loose or driven by the rotor.

In one form of construction an annular gripper is loosely mounted eccentrically on the'oscillator whose aXisof oscillation is coaxial with the rotor, elastic bodies beinginterposed between the oscillator and the rotor; the outer circumference of the gripper'is axial with the inner surface of the rotor, and means such as a spring is provided, tending to turn the gripper in one directionor the other, according to the direction of rotation gripper in its neutral position. a V I i I Means may be rov'ided to vary this spring or other contro ling force acting on the gripper so that the travel of this latter under inertia forces is varied, whereby the period of gripping during the driving-stroke of the oscillator is varied with the result that variable speed and torque on the rotor is obtained. In a modification I interpose'betweenthe gripper and the oscillator and betweenvtheoscillator and rotor, curved bars or corrugated sections or rings, immersed in oil, which are so arranged that they bend under load,

whereby breaking of the oil film is avoided,

and also provide the necessary elasticity recurred to produce angular motlon between oscillator and the rotor. Y 1

In another form of construction the oscillator and rotor are moi-inted-coaxially with-a gripper between them, ball or other elastic anti-friction thrust bearings being. provided between the oscillator and rotor and between the oscillator and gripper, while a plain face the gripper and the oscillator and between the v and V of high bearing friction is provided between the gripper and the rotor, thesurfaces ofthe oscillator and gripper, which co-operate, being inclined to thetransverse plane through the apparatus at an angle less than the angle 7 of friction between the gripper and oscillator.

Figure 2 isatransverse section on theline 2-2, Figure 1, of a unidirectional driving device constructed according to 'the invention;

Figure 3 is a Figure 4 a 1-4, Figurev 3, of-a form in which the ball races are caused to rotate by africtional means;

longitudinal section; and

I Figure 5 1s a sectional side elevation of a complete double driving device;

Figure 6 is a sectional plan; Figure 7 is a section on the line 7-7, Figure 6, while Figure 8 1s a part section on the line88, Fi ure 6;

igure' 9 is a diagrammatic section showing a simple type of drivlng device with the. os-

cillator inside illustrating the principle of thelnVQIltlDD;

. Figure 10 is a FigurelO is a diagram on an enlarged scale illustrating the displacement of the centers of the parts'during operation.

Figure 11 is adiagram showing a simple type of valve with the oscillator outside;

Figure 12shows a type of driving device in which the gripper is an incomplete ring arranged so that the rollers orballs can circu late around their track;

' Figure 13 shows a modified driving'devicc in which two eccentrics are employed;

Figure 14 shows a modification in which the outer circle of the gripper is not concentric with the rotor;

Figure15 shows a modification in which the radial movement necessary to allow the angular motion is obtainedby the use of curved sliding members with an oil film between'them and the oscillator;

.Fig'ure 16 shows a modified form of the apparatus working on the same principle.

In carrying the invention into effect as oscillator.

transverse section on the line diagram showing the various 7 centers in a slightly modified arrangement;

illustrated at Figures 1 and 2, and referring to the right hand half of Figure 1, the rotor a surrounds the gripper b and the oscillator 0 is in the form of a hollow shaft cl on which the eccentric (Z is formed. A ball or roller race 6 is provided outside the eccentric and the gripper fits freely on the outer member 7" of the ball race. The external circumference of the gripper is concentric with the rotor when in the neutral position and a small clearance as shown at g, Figure 2, is provided between the gripper b and the rotor at which surrounds it. A force acting towards an external point is applied by a spring such'as h, means being provided to reverse the'direction of this force or to hold the gripper in the mean position or to attach it tofixed points in intermediate positions as shown, so as to adjust the initial position of the gripper at the commencement of each stroke of the The force in the forward or reverse direction actson the gripper in thedi rection opposite to that in which rotation is 1927. Therotor (1 comprises a member keyed 'to a shaft Z passing through and floating clear of the hollow shaft (1 of the oscillator, while requlred to take place, as described inLetters Patent No, 1,617,010 issued to me FebruaryB, d

between the rotor and thehollow shaft of the oscillator, as shown in Figure 1, roller 1 bearings m may be provided between the concentric part'of the shaft or sleeve d and the inner surface of the rotor a, so that the friction between the gripper and the rotor is very much greater than the friction between the oscillator and the gripper orthe friction between the rotor and the oscillator. m represents the outer member of a roller race, corresponding to f. To increase the friction the. outer surface of the gripper Z) orpreferably the inner surface of the rotor a is'cut away as-shown at 0 so as to obtain very high pressure per square inch between the gripper and the rotor and thus ensure the breaking of the oil film and consequent high friction. The left hand side of the apparatus partly shown in elevation is similarly constructed, the os-- cillator and gripper driving the rotor in the same direction as the corresponding parts on the right hand side, but operating at a phase difference of 180 degrees as shown further in Figures 5-8.

-With such an arrangement if 'e is the radius of eccentricity, R the internal radius of the rotor where the gripper acts,.F the external force exerted against the rotor in the radial direction, and F the force acting on the rotor in the circumferential direction F R=Fe;

and ifis the angle of friction, gripping betwecn'the gripper and the rotor will take place if which is equal to g is less than (p. An angle (,0 of 5 per cent is a practical figure if the gripper and rotor are hard steel surfaces, cut away as shown, the pressure per 2c, 27. 29 which actuat a pair of oscillating memmasses square inch being as high as possible without injury to the metal. Such local pressures may be as high as 10 to tons per square inch. for very hard surfaces. The above quantities will'be better understood by reference to Figure 9. e is the distance 0 0 and It is the distance from 0 to the inner surface of the rotor.

will be seen thatthis'apparatus can be made reversible by merely reversing the direction of action of the controlling force exerted by the spring A, Fig. 2.

In the form of the invention shown in Figures 3 and 4:, which is very similar to that shown in Figures 1 and 2, ball bearings 12 are ovided between the oscillator and the i grip-per Z and ball bearings 13 are provided between the oscillator c and the rotor at. Small ball bearings 14 are'provided between the inner race of the ball bearing 12 and the oscillator and friction pad 15 and springs 16 are employed to give a frictional contact between the'races and the rotor so that during the idle period there is a tendency for these races to be carried round by the rotor.

A. further ez-zample of the invention is and 8, which shows shown in Figures 5, 6, the device duplicated. The primary shaft '21 carries a pair of eccentrics 22, 23, 180 degrees apart which oscillate a pair of intermediary shafts 24', 25 by means of straps The-shafts 24, 25 carry cranks 28,

here 30, 31 mounted within hollow rotors 32, The rotors are supported within ball bearings 3 35 mounted in the casing 36 of the machine and are keyed to the secondary shaft 37. Between the oscillators 30 31 and the rotors 33, thereare provided grippers,

One of which is shown at 0 with ball races 41 between them and the oscillators. Ball races. 42 are also provided between the oscillate-r and the rotors.

' this form of the invention each oscillater is driven by a pair of connecting rods l3 opposite ends of a diameter, one oscillator being driven by the connecting rods 43 andthe O'Llllil by the connecting rods l4=.'

The grippers are acted on by a controlling in one direction or -the other or kept in the mean position by springs 45 mounted on shaft 46 which can be turned about its axis by the handle l? to exert pressure as shown by the dotted lines 50, Figure 8, or in the opposite direction or to hold the springs 45 in the mean position as required. In the mean position the secondary shaft is free.

The springs 4:5 may be lined in intermediate positions, by which means the travel of the gripper and therefore the period of gripping can be varied with the result of changing the motion of the rotor while the stroke of the oscillator remains uniform.

The method of operation of the driving devices is illustrated at Figures '9 to 14:.

nular gripper 7i, there is provided a row of; rollers 3; a definite clearance -1sallowed?betweenthe outer circumferenceo'f the gripper and the inner circumference of the cylindrical rotor a. When the grlpper is at its mean position and the rotor is free to rotate in either direction, the centres ofthecircular cam 1, gripper and rotors are all three 111 a straight line. hen thegrlpper is moved by an external force through an angle. to

the position shown in full lines, its centre.

move to the point and gripping between the gripper and rotor-takes place along a line parallel to the axis through the point A at which the line 00 strikes'the rotor.

The angle OAO must be less thanthe angle of-friction between rotor and gripper. In

this position when the oscillator moves-in the anti clockwise direction after gripping takes place at A, there is an angular movement of the oscillator in advance of the movement of the rotor and gripper which are moved together owing to the slight movement allowed by thee'lasticity of the balls or bearlng surfaces.

T-llelilSbEnCG of this movement is essential to the release when the motion of the oscillator is reversed as it allows a rolling movement to take place on the rollers or on the frictionless hearings on the Oll film between the oscillator and thegripper and simul-rz' taneously with a similar action on the bearings between the oscillator andthe rotor not 7 shown in Figure 19, but shown in Figure 5 at l2. Further it willbe seen that during the idle stroke of the oscillator the rollers or the like circulate around their track so that fresh and different lines of contact are subjected to s ress at successive periods of engagement.

It will be noticed that atthe moment of gripping, the centres 0, 0 0 are at the angles of a small triangle owing to the movement from the mean position of the centre of the slider allowed by the clearance between the gripper and rotor and by the virtual mo-' tion during gripping. When the gripper is-moved to the dotted line position, the drive takes place in the opposite direction, the contact pressure being transferred to the point B instead of A.

Also it will be seen that a number'of adjacent rollers or the'like take the stress at each engagement.

A similar arrangement is shown in Figure 10, but in this case the eccentricity is greater and the triangle formed by the points 0, 0 0 has a more obtuse angle than in Figure 16 and the pressure'or gripping and an-gleof friction are higher. It is, however, necestype of driving device oscillator is employed.

keyed to the sary in order to avoid excessive stresses that the, angle 0 00 hould not be too great.

Figure 11 is a diagram showing a simple in which an external The oscillator 0 being suitably supported by anti-friction bearings, not shown in the figures, moves about the "axis 0. 'Between theinner circumference and the oscillator whose centre is at 0 and the "outer circumference of the gripper b, there is provided a row of rollers 63. The rotor 64 is secondary shaft land a slight clearance is allowed between the circumference of the rotor and the inner circumference of the gripper.-

' through the pin With the gripper and the oscillator in the position shown, the point ofgripping is at A and the direction of drive is shown by the arrows marked on the rotor. The angle of friction is the angle 0A0 A permanently acting force is caused to act. on the gripper inone direction or the other 66. In the form of the invention shown in Figure'12, the gripper 71 is in the form of a crescentinstead of a complete ring. In this case the oscillator 72gmay be of the form illustrated' and keyed to the shaft 73. A clearcirculate around their track and the operation will be similar to that described with reference to the previous forms.

In the form of the invention shown in Figure 13, two eccentrics are employed. The osv jcillator' c is surrounded by a row of rollers 92 around which is placed a second eccentric V 93 surrounded by a second row of rollers 94.

trio. and the inner track of :the rotor.

' The gripper outer set of rollers and fits easily Wlthllhblle rotor a. In this case no clearance is required The rollers and the point 0 '6 immediately surrounds this owing to the use of thetwo eccentrics. pressure points for forward and reverse drive are shown at A and B respectively. The point 0 is the centre'of oscillation of the ecrfeln- 1e oint- 0 is the centre of the inner row of the centre of the outer row of rollers.

It'should be noted that in this case there is no need of more than a working clearance, as the triangle 00 0 is obtained by the use of two eccentrics. V

Figure 14 shows a modified form of the apparatus in which theouter circle of the gripper 7) is not-concentric with the rotor when in the neutral position. By arranging the gripper in this manner, it is possible to obtain a stronger gripper than is by the dotted and i which itis pulled in the case where the circle of the gripper is concentric with the rotor in the mean position.

Figure 15 shows diagrammatically another method of obtaining elasticity in a bearing.

In this case there are inserted between the os- 'cill'ator 131 and the gripper 132 a number of curved bars 133 of-hard steel or phosphorbronze or like material. The dimensions of thesebars should be such that the elasticity limit is not exceeded under the pressure which a is produced between the oscillator and the gripper.

A modificationv somewhat similar is shown at Figure 16. In this case the bar 134 which may be continuedor not, asdesired, is of corrugated form, the give required to allow virtual motion being provided for by the flattening of the corrugated bar. squeezing out of oil with devices as shown in Figures 15 and 16, is very considerable, so that the friction between the oscillator and the gripper is very much less than that between The resistance to the gripper and the rotor witha consequence that during the gripping period, there is a slight motion between the oscillator and the gripper, while the gripper and the rotor move together. r

The gripper has a movement relative to the oscillator during the driving period, the possibility of this movement being due to the Figures 15, and 16.

ers, orpads as shown in 95 give allowed by the elasticity of the balls, roll- The movement of the gripper during the driving per od depends on its lnertla and also on v the external forces, spring or other means by v the direction contrary to the direction of rotation. If the external force, therefore, acting on the gripper be varied, the travel of the gripper and therefore the period of gripping may be varied and also the mean position of the slider during'motion may be altered as desired. The effect of varying the external force either by altering its direction or limiting its range of action is that the variations are produced proportion-. ately on a very much larger scale on the torque of the secondary.

In apparatus constructed as above described a variable torque can be obtained from a constant speed engine owing to the elasticity of the parts.

In a device driven by mechanical valvesas' above described, if the resisting torque increases, the speed of the driven shaft automatically decreases.

I claim 1. Unidirectional reversing driving gear comprising in combination a shaft, an externally driven oscillating member anda gripper, both part of the oscillating member adjacent to the gripper, elastic bodies interposed between the eccentric and the gripper and between the oscillating member and the rotor member, which III surrounding the shaft, an eccentriconthe '1 a rotor member keyed to the shaft, 1

elastic bodies are compressed at the commencement of the driving stroke of the oscil-e lating member and adjustable means for restraining the motion of the gripper in one direction or the other, thus varying the initial point of contact of the gripper and the rotor member and providing for reversal.

2. Unidirectional reversing driving gear comprising in combination a shaft, a gripper and an externally driven oscillating member, both surrounding the shaft, and oscillating member having an eccentric part situated within the gripper, a rotor member keyed to the shaft and surrounding the gripper, elastic ball bearings interposed between the eccentric part of the oscillating member and the gripper and between the oscillating member and the rotor member bearings, which are compressed at the commencement of the driving stroke of the oscillating member, and an adjustable spring for restraining the motion of the gripper in one direction or the other, thus varying the initial point of contact of the gripper and the rotor member and providing for reversal.

3. Mechanism for communicating motion from a shaft rotating at constant speed to a driven shaft rotating at a speed varying with the torque which tends to oppose its motion, comprising in combination a constantly rotating power shaft, a pair of counter shafts connected to and oscillated by the said power shaft, a driven shaft and links and a pair of unidirectional driving devices operatively connecting the said counter shafts with the driven shaft, each of such devices comprising in combination an oscillating member surrounding the said driven shaft and actuated in opposite phase by links from the said counter shafts, an eccentric part on the said oscillating member, a gripper surrounding the said eccentric part, a rotor keyed to said driven shaft and surrounding the said oscillating member and the said gripper, elastic ball bearings interposed between the eccentric part of the oscillating member and the gripper and between the non-eccentric part of the oscillating member and the rotor, such 7 bearings being subject to compression at each driving stroke of the oscillating member and a spring adj ustably mounted so as to act upon the said gripper in either direction and so provide for varying the mean position of, the

" gripper, the period or phase of grip and the direction of motion of the rotor.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

GEORGE CONSTANTlNESGO. 

